1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to image capturing apparatuses, and more particularly, to an image capturing apparatus that can detect a target object, such as an animal, in a captured image, a control method therefor, and a program for causing a computer to execute the method.
2. Description of the Related Art
Hitherto, image capturing apparatuses such as digital still cameras which capture images of subjects such as persons, generate captured images, and record the captured images have become widely spread. Also in the recent years, an increasing number of people are becoming interested in animals, such as dogs and cats. Many people have these animals as their pets at home.
A captured image recorded using an image capturing apparatus such as a digital still camera can be saved as image data. Because the image data can be easily deleted, many people nowadays often capture images of target objects that these people are interested in. For example, images of pets at home are frequently captured.
However, when a photographer wishes to capture an image of an animal, such as a dog or a cat, the animal has difficulty in understanding the photographer's instructions. Therefore, even when the photographer points an image capturing apparatus toward the animal, the animal may not necessarily assume a posture as desired by the photographer. For example, even when a photographer who wishes to capture an image of the front side of the face of a dog points an image capturing apparatus toward the front side of the dog, the front side of the dog's face is not necessarily directed toward the image capturing apparatus. Even when the photographer points the image capturing apparatus toward the front side of the dog's face, the dog may face a different direction. Therefore, for example, when a photographer wishes to capture the front side of the face of an animal, such as a dog or a cat, it is important to bring the front side of the animal's face to face the image capturing apparatus.
Accordingly, a camera that outputs sound that is interesting to a pet serving as a subject in response to halfway pressing of a release button by a user, and, in response to all-the-way pressing of the release button by the user who determines that the pet has faced the camera, exposes an image of the subject captured at the time of this all-the-way pressing onto a silver salt film has been proposed (for example, see Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2002-107807 (FIG. 5)).